Multiple-twist spindle



Nov. 4, 1969 KEON TAIRA ET AL 3,475,892

' MULTIPLE-TWIST SPINDLE Filed Sept. 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 KEONTAIRA & KAZUYOSHI KIDA,

INVENTOR S BYIALMXJ* M ATTORNEY S NOV. 4, 1969 KEQN TMRA ET AL 3,475,892

- MULTIPLE-TWIST SPINDLE Filed Sept. 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2- KEONTAIRA & KAZUYOSHI KIDA,

INVENTOR S BY/Mllm* pw ATTORNEY S NOV. 4, 1969 KEON TA|RA ET AL K3,475,892

MULTIPLE-TWIST SPINDLE Filed sept. 24, 196e 4 sheets-sheet s KEON TAIRA& KAZUYOSHI KIDA,

INVENTOR S BYNJuf-'l pm ATTORNEY s NOV. 4, 1969 KEON TA|RA ETAL3,475,892

MULTIPLE-TWIST SPINDLE F" :i Sept. 24, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 F79. 5 lgb'i I I I I I I I I I I I I 4 KEON TAIRA & KAZU'YOSHI KIDA,

INVENTORS Bylaw/lm W pm ATTQRNEY S United States Patent O 1968,I3/12,510; Feb. 24, 1968, i3/13,718, 43/ 13,719

Int. Cl. D01h l/10, 7/86' U.S. Cl.l S7-58.61 9 Claims ABSTRACT F THEDISCLOSURE Multiple-twist spindle of a simple structure which can impartto an untwisted yam a multiple twist of an arithmetical progressionbeginning with 4 and having a common difference of 2 such asfourth-twist, sixth-twist, eighth-twist per one rotation of the twistspindle shaft and which can make a high-speed twisting possible.

This invention relates to a multiple-twist spindle of a simple structurewhich can impart to an untwisted yarn a multiple twist of anarithmetical progression beginning with 4 and having a common diierenceof 2 such as fourth-twist, sixth-twist, eighth-twist per one rotation ofthe twist spindle shaft and which can make a highspeed twistingpossible.

More specifically, this invention relates to a multipletwist spindlewhich comprises a plurality of rotary discs each having a yarn-passagefor passing a yarn along the longitudinal axis of the disc andforwarding the yarn outwardly in the edge direction of the disc, astationary member mounted between two adjacent discs and so adapted asto be stationary regardless of the rotation of said adjacent discs, saidstationary member having a yarn passage for receiving the yarn drawn outof the disc mounted above said stationary member and passing through ayarn guide positioned above a yarn package on the bobbin, and forwardingthe yarn to the disc positioned below said stationary member, arotation-transferring device mounted on said stationary member totransfer the rotation movement of the rotating disc driven by drivemeans, a final yarn guide positioned above said yarn guide and adaptedto pass the yarn drawn from the yarn passage of said lowest rotatingdisc, and a top-end stationary member stationarily mounted on theuppermost rotating disc and adapted to mount thereon a bobbin having apenetrating hollow along the axis of said topend stationary member.

Conventionally, in the art of yarn-twisting there has been a problem ofperforming the twisting operation at high speed without giving any badinuence to qualities of twisted yarns, and many proposals have been madeas solutions of said problems. Thus, double-twist spindles (two-for-onetwisting spindles) have been developed to impart a double-twist tountwisted yarns per one rotation of the twist spindle shaft. But, therehas not been developed any twist spindle which can give an untwistedyarn a multiple twist greater than the double twist.

With a view to providing a twist spindle which has a simple structureand hence can be constructed easily, and by which a twisting operationcan be performed with ease and at a higher twisting speed, we havesucceeded in developing a multiple-twist spindle such as fourth-twistspindle, sixth-twist spindle and eighth-twist spindle, which has neverbeen proposed and whose possibility has never been suggested.

Accordingly, the primary object of this invention is to provide amultiple-twist spindle which can impart to untwisted yarns a multipletwist of at least a fourth-twist lCe per one rotation of the twistspindle shaft and which has such advantages as follows; the structurethereof is very simple, it can be easily constructed, it can be smoothlyoperated, it can produce twisted yarns of high qualities and byemploying the multiple-twist spindle of this invention it is possible topractice the twisting operation at a rate at least twice as high as inthe conventional doubletwist spindles.

Y Other objects and advantages of this invention will be illustratedhereinbelow.

In principle the conventional known double-twist spindle (two-for-onetwisting spindles) commonly comprise a yarn package on a bobbin which isheld fast in any suitable way on a hollow spindle shaft which is drivenat high speed, the spindle shaft carrying disc. The yarn passes throughthe spindle shaft and outwardly at the edge of the disc and then througha thread guide lying on the axis of rotation of the spindle shaft. Asthe yarn is drawn from the bobbin into the shaft it forms a firstballoon and is twisted within the shaft. The yarn between the disc andthe thread guide forms a second balloon and is then again twisted.Several means have been proposed to hold the package fast againstrotationrnechanical, electrical and electro-magnetic.

We have found that the above mentioned object can be attained byutilizing ingeniously the above principle and providing a stationarymember between each two adjacent rotating discs of a plurality ofrotating disc to receive a yarn drawn out of the disc mounted above saidstationary member and passing through a yarn guide positioned above theyarn package on the bobbin said to introduce the yarn to the yarnpassage of the disc mounted below the stationary member, and arotation-transferring device mounted on said stationary member betweendiscs to tranfer the rotation of the lowest rotating disc to upperrotating discs.

By referring to the appended drawings, the structure of themultiple-twist spindle of this invention and several embodiments thereofwill be illustrated hereinbelow.

FIGURE 1 is a partially cut-out side view illustrating one embodiment ofa fourth-twist spindle as the typical instance of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partially enlarged view illustrating an arrangement of arst rotating disc, a second rotating disc and a stationary memberdisposed between both discs,

FIGURE 2 is a partially enlarged view illustrating an line a-rz ofFIGURE 3.

FIGURE 3 shows a section taken along the line b-b of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side view illustrating another embodiment where magneticmeans are utilized for holding fast the stationary arrangement of astationary member between the discs, and a top-end stationary member.

FIGURE S shows a section of still another embodiment where rotatingdiscs are not positioned on the same axis.

FIGURE 6-A shows a lateral section of a tensioner (tensioning device)mounted on a bobbin, a lower part of which is cut out.

FIGURE 6-B is a perspective view, partially seen through, of thetensioner.

In FIGURE 1, when a wharve 16 rotatably mounted on an insert 18 isallowed to rotate by a suitable means such as a belt 17, the lowestrotating disc (a second r0- tating disc 2 in this embodiment) islikewise allowed to rotate. A yarn passage 6c is provided piercingthrough said rotating disc 2 to pass the yarn along the longitudinalaxis of the disc and to forward outwardly the yarn in the direction ofthe edge of said disc. A stationary member 3 is mounted via a bearing 7above said disc 2.

The provision of said stationary member 3 between rotating discs is oneof the prominent features of the multiple-twist spindle of thisinvention. A- yarn passage 6b is provided piercing through saidstationary member 3 to receive the yarn drawn out of a first rotatingdisc 1 (an uppermost rotating disc in this embodiment) mounted via abearing 8 above said stationary member 3 and to forward the yarn to saidyarn passage 6c of said second rotating disc 2 positioned below saidstationary member. The yarn coming out of the first rotating disc 1passes through a yarn guide 9a disposed above the yarn package on thebobbin and is then introduced to the passage 6b of said stationarymember.

Said yarn guide 9a is secured to said stationary member 3 by a suitablemeans, for instance, an arm 10 such as shown in the drawings. Guiderollers 22 are rotatably fitted on said arm 10. There is furtherprovided a yarn guide 9b (a final yarn guide in this embodiment) abovesaid yarn guide 9a to introduce the yarn drawn from the lowest rotatingdisc, and said guide 9b is supported by a suitable means. For instance,as is shown in the drawings, the yarn guide 9b may be supported on asupport of the insert 18 by means of an arm 10.

Further, a top-end stationary member 4 is stationarily mounted via abearing 12 on said rotating disc 1 coaXially with said disc. A yarnpackage on a bobbin 5 may be mounted on the upper portion of saidtop-end stationary member.

Although in the above described embodiment shown there are provided onlytwo rotating discs, it would be apparent that third, fourth and morerotating discs may be provided together with posing stationary membersinterposing between each two adjacent discs. Thus, a fourth-twistspindle may be provided by a combination of two rotating discs, onestationary member between discs, and two yarn guides. Likewise, asixth-twist spindle may be provided by a combination of three rotatingdiscs, two stationary members between discs, and three yarn guides, andan eighth-twist spindle by a combination of fourth rotating discs, threestationary members betwen discs, and four yarn guides.

The rotating discs which are rotatably mounted and each two adjacentdiscs of which are interposed with a stationary member 3, are soarranged that the rotating movement of the lowest rotating disc drivenby a drive means is gradually transferred to rotating discs at the upperpositions by means of a rotation-transferring device. This mechanism isclearly illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3.

In FIGURES 2 and 3 the rotation movement of the second rotating disc 2is transferred to the first rotating disc 1 by means of arotation-transferring device which comprises a transfer roll 11pressingly contacting the outer side surface of a circular sleeve 2'provided on the upper surface of said disc 2 and a pressing transferroll 11 to transfer the rotation of said roll 11 via a shaft 13 to acircular sleeve 1 provided on the bottom surface of the first rotatingdisc 1. In this embodiment, in order to ensure the rotation of eitherthe roll 11 or 11', a bearing 13 piercing through the stationary memberbetween discs is pressed by a nut 15 via a spring 14. It is preferred toprovide a plurality of such rotationtransferring devices. It may bepossible to use gear rolls instead of pressing transfer rolls 11, 11while providing engaging zones on the confronting peripheries of thesleeves 2', 1'.

If desired, it may be also possible to vary the rotation ratio of therolls 11, 11 by changing the diameters thereof. For instance, in thecase the rolls 11, 11 are so arranged that the first rotating disc 1 maybe allowed to rotate more than once per one rotation of the secondrotating member 2 by making the diameter of the roll 11 larger than thediameter of the roll 11, it is possible to impart a multiple-twist morethan the fourth twist to untwisted yarns per one rotation of thespindle. Of course, it is usual to arrange the rolls 11, 11' so that therotation ratio thereof is 1. In this case, the fourth-twist is impartedto untwisted yarn per one rotation of the first spindle shaft. However,it should be understood that this invention includes an embodiment wherea multiple-twist more than the fourth-twist can be imparted to untwistedyarns by modifying the transfer rolls 11, 11 as described above, evenwith the use of two rotating discs, besides an embodiment of using morethan two rotating discs and imparting a multiple-twist more than thefourth twist to untwisting yarns, the principle of which has beendescribed hereinabove.

Further, in the multiple-twist spindle of this invention, in order toensure the stationary mounting of the top-end stationary member 4 and/orthe stationary member 3 between discs by bearings, it is possible toadopt in combination conventional known means such as means usingmagnets or weights.

An instance of such modification is illustrated in FIGURE 4, where likein FIGURE 1 there is shown a fourth-twist spindle comprising tworotating discs 1, 2, a top-end stationary member 4 and a stationarymember 3 mounted between the discs 1 and 2. Permanent magnets 19, 20 areprovided on the periphery portions of the stationary members 3, 4. InFIGURE 4 one magnet is buried in each of stationary at one end of theperiphery portion thereof. However, they may be provided on the surfacesof the stationary members. Generally, it is preferred to provided aplurality of magnets along the periphery of each stationary member atsuitable intervals. Magnets 19', 20' are provided at the adjacentpositions confronting to the magnets 19, 20, respectively. The ma-gnet20 is supported by an arm disposed at a suitable portion of thestationary member 3, and the magnet 19' may be secured to a suitablestationary member, for instance the arm 10' shown in FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 4, a cover 21 surrounding a yarn package on the bobbin isprovided on the stationary member 4 and a cover 21 surrounding saidcover 21 with a balloonforming. space interposing therebetween isprovided on the stationary member 3. These covers exhibit an action ofpreventing occurrence of yarn breakage or yarn napping due to thecontact or entanglement of yarn. Particularly, these covers are usefulfor preventing such contact or entanglement of balloons which is apt tooccur at the initial stage of the operation. For this purpose it is alsopossible to use a ring 21 surrounding the yarn package on the bobbin andsecured to the arm 10 (as is shown by the dotted line in FIGURE 1).

It is preferred to provide, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, a suitablenumber of guide rollers on the ar-m 10 and the cover 21 as auxiliarymeans for passing the yarn stably.

In FIGURES 1 and 4, the yarn drawn from the yarn package 5 on the bobbin5 mounted on the top-end stationary member 4 passes through a hollowpassage in the bobbin and then through the yarn passage 6a in the firstrotating disc and is forwarded outwardly in the edge direction of saiddisc. Thus, the yarn is subjected to a first twisting action. Next, theyarn forms a balloon,-

passes through the first yarn guide 9a and is subjected to a secondtwisting action during its travel from said disc 1 to said guide 9a. Inthe embodiment of FIGURE 4 it is a matter of course that an opening forpassing the yarn is provided on the top of the cover 21'. Instead ofproviding separately the yarn guide 9a above said opening, it ispossible to make said opening integrated with said yarn guide 9a.

Thereafter, the yarn is introduced, while contacting guide rollers 22,into the yarn passage 6b provided in the stationary member 3 betweendiscs. Thus, the yarn is subjected to a third twisting action during itstravel from said guide 9a to the stationary member 6c. In the embodimentshown in FIGURE 4 an opening is naturally provided at a suitableposition of the lower portion of the cover 21 to introduce the yarn intothe yarn passage 6b in the stationary member 3. Then, the yarn passesthrough the yarn passage 6b, and is introduced to the yarn passage 6c inthe second rotating disc 2, after which it passes through said passage6c and is outwardly forwarded in the edge direction of said disc 2.Then, forming a fourth balloon, the yarn reaches the final yarn guide9b. The yarn is thus subjected to a -fourth twisting action during itstravel from the disc 2 to the guide 9b.

Thus, in an extremely compactly designed zone the yarn is subjected tofour twisting .actions while passing through the passages provided instationary members and rotating discs, and balloon-forming spacessuccessively via guides 9a and 9b. As described hereinabove, amultiple-twisting such as sixth-twisting and eighth-twisting can beperformed by increasing the number of travel units.

As is shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, in order to prevent the contact among aplurality of balloons formed during the operation, it is possible, asdescribed above, to use the ring 21" or covers 21, 21' in a suitablecombination. Further, as is apparent from these figures, it is alsopossible to design the rotating discs such that the diameter of the discat the upper position is smaller than that of the disc at the lowerposition, whereby the contact among the balloons can be also prevented.

In case covers 21, 21 .are used, it is preferred to make these covers ofa tranparent synthetic resin in order that the state of the balloonformation may be observed from the outside. It is a matter of coursethat these auxiliary means are optionally selected and used in asuitable cornbination.

In the above mentioned embodiments plurality of the rotating discs areprovided coaxially with one another. But, it is not essential that theserotating discs should be coaxial with one another. In the embodiment ofFIG- URE 5, the stationary member 3 is mounted above the second rotatingdisc 2 via a bearing 7 and the first rotating disc 1 is mounted abovesaid stationary member 3 with the axis deviated from the axis of saidrotating disc 2. On said disc 2 there is provided an arm 10 in theposition relative to stationary member 3. Further, on the stationarymember 3 there is provided the rotationtransferring device whose rolls11 and 11' pressingly contact the circular sleeves 2' and 1 of eachrotating disc, whereby the rotation of the rotating disc 2 istransferred `to the first rotating disc 1. By providing the rotatingdiscs in such non-coaxial state, it is made possible to reduce the bulkof the balloons, and hence the increase in either tension of yarn orpower for driving the spindle can be avoided, thus resulting in thereduction of the space between each two spindles. There are advantagesof the embodiment where the rotating discs are provided in thenon-coaxial state.

Usually, the yarn drawn from the yarn package 5 is allowed to passthrough a tensioner (tensioning device) before it is introduced in ahollow passage of the bobbin. Though various conventional tensioners maybe applied to this invention, it is recommendable to use an improvedtensioner newly developed by us.

In the conventional tensioners, a tension plate is so arranged that itmay be pushed by a spring which is tightened by means of a nut, etc.Thus, the releasing tension of the yarn drawn from the yarn package isadjusted by adjusting the tightening degree of the nut. Accordingly, incase the nut loosens, the tension on the yarn is naturally varied, andhence it becomes impossible to impart a constant tension to the yarn.The improved tensioner developed by us is to overcome the abovementioned shortcomings of the conventional tensioners, and ispractically advantageously applied to the multiple-twist spindle of thisinvention.

As is shown in FIGURES 6-A and 6-B, the improved tensioner is provideddismountably on the upper end of the bobbin 5. In the drawings, thetensioner is secured to the bobbin by means of screws. However, anychange of design may be applied to the securing of the tensioner. Forinstance, it may be merely forced into the bobbin or inserted intogrooves provided in the bobbin. In the drawings, a casing of thetensioner is composed of two members of a cap 23 and a cap 24 secured tothe cap 23 by means of screws. But the casing may be integrallycomposed. Further, the legs of the cap 24 may be dismountably securedinto the grooves provided on the cap 23 by an optional procedure such asscrewing, insertion and forcible fitting. Along the axial directionthere are perforated a yarn-introducing opening 24 through the cap 24and a yam-passing opening 23 through the cap 23. In the space inside thecap 24 there are provided a pair of tension plates 25, 25, whose crookedportions contact each other and whose extending portions project to theoutside respectively through slit-like openings 26, 26 sectionallysymmetrically provided on both side walls of the cap 24. The other ends27, 27 of each tension plate are fastened with pins at the upperportions of said space inside the cap 24. The extending portions of saidtension plates 25, 2S projecting to the outside through slit-likeopenings 26, 26 are so arranged that washer-type weights may be placedon said projecting portions from above the cap 24.

The yarn passes through the opening 24' and then runs through betweenthe contacting crooked portions of each tension plate where a constantstress is maintained. Then, the yarn is introduced into a hollow passageof the bobbin. Depending on the kind of the yarn to be twisted, it ispossible to vary washer-type weights 28 and select ones of a suitableload. Accordingly, it is possible to draw continuously the yarn from theyarn package on the bobbin at a constant and suitable releasing tension.

Twisted yarns of a twist number of 300 T/M (T=twist; M=meter) wereprepared at a spindle rotation rate of 10,000 r.p.m. from untwistednylon yarns of deniers and 24 laments by employing the fourth-twistspindle of this invention shown in FIGURE l and a double-twist spindlewhich is similar to the above fourth-twist spindle of this inventionexcept that it has not any stationary member between discs nor anyrotation-transferring device but only one rot-ating disc. The twistedyarn prepared by employing the fourth-twist spindle of this inventionwas not so different in respect of the qualities from the yarn preparedby the above mentioned double-twist spindle. But, in the case of thefourth-twist spindle of this invention the twisting can `be performed atsuch a high yarn speed at 133.3 m./min. while the yarn speed is only66.6 m./min. in the case of the double-twist spindle.

What we claim is:

1. A multiple-twist spindle which comprises a plurality of rotatingdiscs each having a yarn passage for passing a yarn along thelongitudinal axis of the disc and forwarding the yarn outwardly in theedge direction of the disc, a stationary member mounted between twoadjacent discs and so adapted as to be stationary regardless of therotation of said two adjacent discs, said stationary member having ayarn passage for receiving the yarn drawn from the disc mounted abovesaid stationary member Vand passing through a yarn guide positionedabove a yarn package on the bobbin, and forwarding the yarn to the discpositioned below said stationary member, a rotation-transferring devicemounted on said stationary member to transfer the rotation movement ofthe lowest rotating disc driven by drive means, a final yarn guidepositioned above said yarn guide and adapted to pass the yarn drawn fromthe yarn passage of said lowest rotating disc, and a top-end stationarymember stationary mounted on the uppermost rotating disc and adapted tomount thereon a bobbin having a penetrating hollow `along the axis ofsaid top-end staionary member.

2. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 1, wherein thestationary member is provided between two adjacent rotating discs viabearings, and the top end stationary member is stationary mounted on theuppermost rotating disc via a bearing and adapted to mount thereon abobbin having a penetrating hollow along the .axis of said top-endstationary member.

3. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 1, wherein the yarnguide is supported on a support secured to the stationary member mountedbetween the discs.

i'. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 3, wherein guiderollers `are provided on the arm or cover supported by the stationarymember between discs.

5. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 1, wherein thestationary member between discs comprises at least onerotation-transferring device.

6. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 1, wherein magnets areprovided on the periphery portions 0f the stationary members at suitableintervals and other magnets are provided at the positions confrontingand adjacent to each of said magnets provided on the stationary members.

7. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim l,

wherein covers are fitted on the stationary members to prevent thecontact of balloons with one another.

8. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 7, wherein the coversfitted on the stationary members are transparent.

9. The multiple-twist spindle described in claim 1, wherein thestationary member between discs is so mounted between two adjacentrotating discs that said two discs are not coaxial with each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,690,373 11/1928 Marchev57-58.61 XR 2,099,876 11/1937 Weaver 57--58.61 XR JOHN PETRAKES, PrimaryExaminer U.S. C1. X.R. 57--58.84

